Shoe-holding device.



No. 735,833 PATENTEDAUG. 11, 1903. I

A. J. SKINNER;

SHOE HOLDING DEVICE.

APPLIOATION FILED D50. 13. 1901.

NO MODEL.

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UNITED STATES Patented August 11, 1903. 3

PAT NT OFFICE.

SHOE-HOLDING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 735,833, dated August 11, 1903. Application filed December 13,1901; Serial No. 85,808. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom, it may concern;

Be it known that I, ARTHUR J. SKINNER, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Springfield, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts,haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Shoe-Hold ing Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to devices for holding shoes, 860., while they are being polished or for stretching the same, the object of the invention being to improve upon the construction of devices of this character'now in use whereby they may be more cheaply manufactured and rendered practically more use-.

ful; and the invention consists in the construction, as described in the following specification, and more particularly pointed out in the claim.

In the drawings forming part of this application, Figure 1 is a perspective View of a shoe-holding device or stretcher embodying my invention, a shoe being shown in connection therewith in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the swinging connection between the two main parts of the device, these parts being shown in their separated relations. Fig. 3 is a similar view to Fig. 2, showing a modification of the construction.

In carrying out my invention in practice I provide a rigid supporting-arm d for the shoe to be attached removably or otherwise to a wall or similar support, the main part of this arm for a certain distance from the point of its attachment to the wall extending horizontally or substantially-at a right angle thereto and then dipping or curving downwardly, the extremity of its lower end being finished off with a tapered head portion 1), which is adapted to fit wedge-like into a similarly-tapered socket-in the rear end of a toe-piece c, which engages the toe portion of the shoe, as indicated in the drawings, and substantially fills the same, so as to hold the shoe-upper properly while being operated upon to clean or blacken and polish it. At the point in said arm a where the bend thereof begins a swingnut, whereby said arm and lever may be clamped together, and so held for supporting a shoe while being operated upon, as below set forth. To the lower end of said lever d a curved heel-plate f is pivotally hung to swing freely more or less in a plane parallel with said lever, whereby when said lever is manipulated to force the outer surface of said heel-plate against that part of the inner surface of the shoe-upper just above the rear part of the heel of the shoe saidouter surface shall without any injurious abrading action so act against said shoe-upper as to draw the toe of the shoe tightly onto said toe-piece c to the position shown in Fig. 1 ready to be worked upon for polishing, 850. Thus it is evident that the entire outer side of the plate is forced into the position described and shownin the drawings relative to said inner surface of the shoe-upper near to its broad engagement therewith and its automatic adaptation. vertically to the inside of the shoe-upper against which it is forced.

In further explanation of the action of the heel-piece fin drawing the toe portion of the upper or vamp tightly onto the toepiece cit should be observed that the pressure-lever d projects at its lower end to a point below the plane of the holding element 1) for the rigid toe-piece 0, whereby the ver- 0 tically-swinging heel-piece f is pivoted at a point below the plane of the support for the toe-piece, By reason of this specific relation of the pivotal support for the heel-piece with reference to the support for the toe-piece provision is made when the stretching pressureis applied to the lever d for drawing the vamp downward over the rigid toe-piece, at the same time permittingthe heel-piece to remain permanently in firm contact with the counter.

It is desirable in a device of this character that the operation of placing the shoe on the toe-piece and forcibly drawing it on by the manipulation of the lever d and the securing of said lever rigidly in whatever position it may be desired should all be capable of being done quickly and easily and that the fastening for the leverd to hold it in position should be of that character which will prevent it from yielding when the required pressure is applied to the heel-plate f for drawing the toe-piece c firmly onto the tapered extremity b of said arm a while adjusting the shoe thereon. The manner of fastening said swinging lever to the arm a is as follows: At that point where the arm a and the lever 01 are pivotally united their contiguous surfaces comprise two edge cams g, as shown in Fig. 2, which are halved together, the bolt 6 passing centrally therethrough. When the lever (Z is swung on the bolt, the operation of its cam will tend to force it away from the side of the arm a when the swing is in such direction as will throw the lower end thereof toward the toe-piece.

It is obvious that when a shoe is stretched over the toe-piece by the lever d and the thumb-nut is tightened up to hold the lever snugly against the arm a, and the two cam-surfaces g are in close contact it will be impossible so long as this close contact is forcibly maintained by the thumb-nut to swing the lower end of the lever cl toward said toe-piece, for the attempt to do so would be blocked by the thumb-nut on the bolt e, which would have to be forced oif of the latter endwise to permit said lever d to swing on the screw,because of the intereugaging cam -surfaces between said lever and the arm ct. This construction constitutes, therefore, a very powerful means for locking the lever d in position, and, furthermore, it is a construction which is easily and cheaply manufactured and one which requires no costly finishing operationsthat is to say, the cam-surfaces and the holes for the bolts may be cast in the arms ready to receive the bolt.

The heel-platef is secured to the lower end of the lever d by a pin, whose ends are upset to retain it in place and which permits the free swing of said heel-plate.

The construction shown in Fig. 3 is one which might be used in place of the cam-su rfaces shown in Fig. 2, although it is not as easy of manufacture, nor is the device as easily manipulated when this is applied thereto. The modification consists in casting or forming in the annular contiguous contact-surfaces between the arm a and the lever d V- In attaching the arm ato a wall I prefer to construct it with a flat base i, the edges of which on two sides thereof may be slightly tapered to fit closely between suitable lugsj of a base-plate 7c, which may be screwed to the wall, the arm being secured in operative position by forcing the base t' down behind and between the lugs. Other methods, however, may be adopted for securing the device to the wall.. These V shaped depressions and projections are in the nature of a series of cam-surfaces. The provision of the camsurfaces renders it unnecessary to depend upon the forcible setting up of the thumbnut to hold the lever d against movement in one direction, for the nut need only be set up strongly enough to keep these surfaces in contact, which while it is maintained will prevent the swing of the arm in one direction. This is too obvious to need further explanation.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

In a shoe-holder for polishing purposes, a supporting-arm havingadipped member provided at its terminal with a holding element, a toe-piece engaging said holding element and held rigid thereby with the arm, a swinging pressure-lever pivoted to the supporting-arm and projecting below its pivot to a point below the plane of said holding element, said pressure-lever having a swinging movement in a direction toward and from the rigid toepiece, a vertically-swingingheel-piece having a rest portion designed to extend vertically along the back of the counter between the top and bottom thereof, said heel-piece having between its top and bottom edges a transverse pivotal connection with the lower extremity of the pressure-lever whereby such connection is disposed below the top of the counter and also below the holding member for the rigid toe-piece so that the top of the vamp will be drawn downward and stretched over said toe-piece, and a locking device for holding the pressure-lever in its strained position.

ARTHUR J. SKINNER. l/Vitnesses:

WM. I-I. CHAPIN, K. I. GLnMoNs. 

